Acts 5:1-23 ▼

1 But then a man named Ananias, with the consent of his wife Sapphira, sold some property.

2 With his wife's full knowledge, he kept back some of the money for himself and brought the remainder and laid it at the apostles' feet.

3 Peter asked, |Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart so that you should lie to the Holy Spirit and keep back some of the money you got for the land?

4 As long as it remained unsold, wasn't it your own? And after it was sold, wasn't the money at your disposal? So how could you have thought of doing what you did? You didn't lie only to men, but also to God!|

5 When Ananias heard these words, he fell down and died. And great fear seized everyone who heard about it.

6 The young men got up, wrapped him up, carried him outside, and buried him.

7 After an interval of about three hours, Ananias' wife came in, not knowing what had happened.

8 So Peter asked her, |Tell me, did you sell the land for that price?| She answered, |Yes, that was the price.|

9 |How could you have agreed together to test the Spirit of the Lord?| Peter asked her. |Listen! The feet of the men who buried your husband are at the door, and these men will carry you outside as well.|

10 She instantly fell down at Peter's feet and died. When the young men came in, they found her dead. So they carried her out and buried her next to her husband.

11 And great fear seized the whole church and everyone else who heard about this.

12 Now many signs and wonders were being performed by the apostles among the people, who were gathered together in Solomon's Colonnade.

13 None of the others dared join them, although the rest of the people continued to hold them in high regard.

14 Nevertheless, believers were being added to the Lord in increasing numbers—both men and women.

15 As a result, people kept carrying their sick into the streets and placing them on stretchers and mats so that at least Peter's shadow might fall on some of them as he went by.

16 Crowds continued coming in—even from the towns around Jerusalem—bringing their sick and those who were troubled by unclean spirits, and all of them were healed.

17 Then the high priest and all those from the sect of the Sadducees who were with him were filled with jealousy. So they went out,

18 arrested the apostles, and put them in the city jail.

19 But at night the angel of the Lord opened the prison doors and led them out. The angel told them,

20 |Go, stand in the Temple, and keep on telling the people the whole message about this life they can have.|

21 After the apostles heard this, they went into the Temple at daybreak and began to teach. The high priest and those who were with him arrived, called the Council and all the elders of Israel together, and sent word to the prison to have the men brought in.

22 When the Temple police got there, they did not find them in the prison. They came back and reported,

23 |We found the prison securely locked and the guards standing at the doors, but when we opened them, we found no one inside.|